main page   Information briefs • macos x server • macos x (client) • darwin • netboot   Installation reports • PHP 3 • PHP 4 (Zend) • MySQL • Python (coming soon)   Special Reports • Apple Media Event 10/99 new iMacs and MacOS 9 • 1999 wwdc keynote • Quick and Dirty MacOS X Server Installaion Guide   Articles   News Archive • 1999 • 1998 • RhapNet (coming soon)   Advertising info   Contact Us   About Us   Links   The Tweak List			Tacite Nunc by: Mark J. Hershenson (markhers@macnn.com) I think most people who have had the opportunity to work with a nice NT workstation or a UNIX box recognize that the Mac has a stability problem. In fact, only recently has stability been a major visible development goal with the MacOS. MacOS 8 has brought my computer to another level of happiness. Crashes are infrequent, and are almost exclusively caused by network-enabled applications. Overall speed is up, memory management is improved, and I haven't had a single HFS+ problem. Life is good, and hopes to get even better when I eventually upgrade to MacOS 8.5.   The NeXT step With the purchase of NeXT came Rhapsody. Positioned as the next MacOS, Rhapsody was to combine the power of NeXTSTEP with the Mac UI and such technologies as QuickTime and QuickDraw GX. Memory protection and preemptive multitasking, among other additions, would help to modernize the Macintosh platform, and help to secure Apple's future in the consumer, networking, and business markets. But grumblings from inside Apple and from the developer program made the company change its plan. Users, developers, and programmers (in and out of Apple) decided that the Rhapsody paradigm just wasn't going to work as planned, and Apple relegated Rhapsody to being an intermediate step between MacOS 8.x and MacOS 10. This repositioning has essentially made Rhapsody the early adopter/developer release of MacOS X. This move, however, has made many view MacOS X Server a throwaway operating system. It may not be the answer that many people are looking for, but it's not proof that Apple can't or won't deliver the OS at all.   Recent MacOS history If you recall, the buzz about MacOS 8.5 (Allegro) began shortly before MacOS 8.1 was itself released. The early hype was created by early knowledge of Allegro's feature set and GUI. Websites, such as MacNN's Reality, were the first to start showing off development versions of the new OS. Reports which included screenshots, user experience, bug fixes, and new features were plastered all over Mac-related websites. Most regular visitors to such sites knew about the addition of vTwin to the Find mechanism, anti-aliasing of text, and network enhancements months and months ago. For all we knew about 8.5, Apple kept a tight lock on information pertaining to its release. In keeping with a recent internal protocol, there was little or now public speculation on the release date until well into the Golden Master phase. Instead, Apple spent its collective energies preparing an ad campaign celebrating 8.5's release, which included posters, radio ads, and Apple Demo Days. Leaks of important information have been sharply restricted since the NeXT acquisition. To deduce that MacOS X Server is dead by pointing to what Apple has not said is to ignore recent history. As I just pointed out, Apple didn't even announce the release of MacOS 8.5 until shortly before its release, and yet it still received a nice sendoff and appreciable ad campaign. Nothing precludes Apple from rolling out MacOS X Server in style.   Timing Apple will not steal thunder from the release of MacOS 8.5 to introduce an essentially developer-oriented release of a dramatically different OS. Doing so would introduce confusion into the minds of the public and media, and counteract the 8.5 ads. MacOS 8.5's mid-October release surely means that MacOS X Server won't be released for at least another month. It must be noted, however, that that pure guess is still in tune with Apple's official word - Fall of 1998. Again, a lack of information does not itself constitute evidence to the contrary. (got that? :))   Conclusion It's too bad that Apple isn't yet hyping MacOS X Server, and it is a hassle for some that Apple has not officially declared how it will be positioned. Yet, Apple's recent track record proves that there will not be any public commitment until immediately preceding the release. This will help to ensure quality of product, as well as be one of the first stages which will usher in the new age of Macintosh operating systems. It will also help ensure that the press will not lambaste Apple for its bug-ridden, over-promised, under-delivered OS. And this doesn't even take into account an even more important reason for releasing MacOS X Server: WebObjects! Apple has stated that the powerful enterprise software, which was also part of the NeXT deal, will be able to run on the new OS. Bundling WebObjects with MacOS X Server would bring Apple one step closer to delivering the high-powered, Apple-branded, Enterprise-level product that has eluded them for so long. So let's just wait to see what Apple does in the next 2 months or so. If it turns out that they don't deliver, you have my permission to flame me. But since I don't know, and many of you don't either, let us agree to let time, not fear, decide the fate of this new product.

 

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